Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Management|School administration|Higher education'

Total quality management (TQM) is a philosophy and process that has been successfully implemented in many business firms. Other organizations, including institutions of higher education, have become increasingly interested in adopting it. It is likely that facilitators need to be cognizant of organizational differences and adjust facilitation methods and strategies accordingly. This dissertation is an exploratory study designed to examine the role of the TQM facilitator in diverse settings. Specifically, the study is an in-depth two-case research study of TQM implementation in an international manufacturing firm and a regional institution of higher education. The primary foci of this dissertation are to (1) investigate differences in context and processes of each organization, (2) compare implementation events, (3) examine the facilitator's role at various stages of TQM implementation, and (4) identify barriers involved with TQM implementation in each organization. Conclusions of the study are that the facilitators' level of involvement in TQM implementation varied over time and at different stages of team development. Facilitators at the manufacturing firm used TQM tools and techniques more frequently than did facilitators in the academic setting. Lastly, outside facilitators had to adjust language, stories, and examples in the academic setting. They also relied heavily on an internal steering committee to plan agendas and assess the degree of acceptance by those involved in early stages of implementation.

<p> The exploratory qualitative research study explored management education business school offerings in comparison to employer expectations. Through the lens of alumni and human-resources personnel participants, the research examined the skills deemed as transferrable to the workplace and competencies that undergraduate-management education alumni lack upon entry into the workplace. This research study used interviewing as the data-collection method to explore the experiences of undergraduate business-school alumni from two universities, which from here on out will be referred to as University A and University B, as well as human-resources personnel from the states where these universities are located. Existing literature relating to the effectiveness of management education programs did not fully address the problem at the undergraduate level. The findings of this study reaffirmed the need for employers, business school administrators, and faculty to increase collaborative efforts to ensure that undergraduate business-school program competencies are aligned with employer expectations.</p>

This study tests hypotheses posed in a 1983 article regarding the Sloan School of Management and the Harvard Business School (HBS). In this article, Van Maanen (1983) states that student-faculty and student-student relations in the two MBA programs differ due to their contrasting institutional and curricular characteristics. Subsequently, the Sloan School of Management adopted some of the same characteristics found at HBS. By adopting a cohort system, eliminating the master's thesis as a degree requirement, increasing its program size, and placing greater emphases on student in-class participation and faculty teaching quality relative to research production, the Sloan School has begun to resemble HBS structurally. Through interviews with MBA students, faculty members, and administrators as well as observations of classes and analysis of documents including course syllabi, this study attempts to determine whether the Sloan culture resembles that found in the literature on HBS. The results show that Sloan's culture looks more similar to that at HBS in some ways. Most importantly, the implementation of the cohort system has increased the sense of cohesiveness among students. In this manner, the Sloan culture has begun to resemble that at HBS. The more dramatic effects on student-faculty and student-student relations that are attributed to the HBS cohort, however, have not begun to appear at Sloan. Nor have the increased emphases on student in-class participation and faculty teaching quality had the same effects at Sloan as they have at HBS.

Lack of research on the use of the leave fringe benefit (paid and unpaid time off) as it related to administrators in higher education was the problem of this study. The main purpose of this study was to increase the body of knowledge by analyzing the differences among paid and unpaid time off and selected demographic data for administrators at four selected public universities in Tennessee (Austin Peay State University, East Tennessee State University, Middle Tennessee State University, and Tennessee Technological University). This descriptive study was conducted to provide a historical data base on the use of paid and unpaid time off in higher education in Tennessee. Data collection was accomplished using specialized computer programs to select information from existing data bases of the four universities. Conclusions of this study were based on reported paid and unpaid time off for 480 administrative employees from four public universities in Tennessee. Female administrators used reported annual and sick leave at significantly higher rates. Administrators with 11 to 15 years of seniority had significantly higher reported use of annual leave. Administrators in the state retirement plan had a higher use of reported sick leave. Administrators with salary ranges of $55,001 to \$65,000 had the lowest use of reported sick leave. Employees with doctorate degrees had significantly lower use of reported sick leave. There were no significant differences for reported annual and sick leave between the four age categories and the four institutions in the study. Recommendations were based on the analyses that significant differences exist in the amount of paid leave used and various demographic variables. Calculations on the research questions indicated that the cost for unpaid leave and paid leave types (jury duty, civil leave, military leave, and bereavement leave) were minimal. However, the calculated mean cost per employee for paid leave types (holiday, annual leave, and sick leave) were more costly. Public institutions should manage and market the leave fringe benefit as a major component of personnel cost.

This study investigated the impact of cocurricular activities on leadership development. College graduates recognized as community leaders were selected from three communities in Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Through survey and interview techniques, the leaders were asked to reflect on high school and college experiences that led to their development as leaders. The study included a focus on differences in experiences of male and female leaders. Developmental influences such as family, mentors, global experience, and the cocurricular activities engaged in during high school and college were explored. Title IX had no impact on increased opportunities for women in this group of participants, as only two female participants were in college in 1972. Results of the study include the importance of mentors, the strength of high school teachers and cocurricular activities, and the weak influence of college cocurricular activities. High school activities most frequently reported to have influenced leadership development include student government, group music experiences, athletics, and church youth groups. College activities with the most impact include resident hall living and internships. Gender differences in experiences include women's lack of identified community mentors and the importance of a college internship experience for women. Opportunities for men's participation in sports in high school and college as well as their descriptions of community mentors provided different learning experiences for men. Recommendations include a call to higher education to develop a more comprehensive and integrated approach to leadership education. Teaching mentoring skills to future K-12 education professionals as well as college faculty and administrators is recommended to higher education. Student Affairs preparation programs have a role to play in training future professionals how to plan meaningful leadership learning opportunities for students on campus and through distance education. Applying the best practices in experiential education will move college cocurricular activities to a higher level in achieving student learning outcomes. Accreditation bodies are also called to include such criteria in the evaluation of leadership education programs. The community leaders in this study offered leadership development advice to college students including becoming lifelong experiential learners, giving back to community, and preparing broadly for the future.

Many of the colleges in the North Carolina Community College System have embarked on a "quality" journey to continuously improve the educational programs and services that they provide to their communities. The primary focus of this study was to determine the level of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles implemented in selected North Carolina community colleges and to determine if there was a difference in the perception of its implementation between administrators and faculty. Additionally, this study examined the influence of the following variables on the implementation of TQM in selected North Carolina community colleges: personal factors (age, gender, ethnicity, and length of employment) and organizational factors (length of institutional involvement in TQM, institutional service area, institutional size, and institutional participation in the Carolina Quality Consortium). Furthermore, the study also gathered data about the positive and negative outcomes as a result of TQM/quality. Data for this study were obtained from a survey instrument that was based on the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award. The survey instrument was mailed to eight full-time administrators and eight full-time faculty members from 29 North Carolina community colleges. Twenty of the institutions belonged to the Carolina Quality Consortium. The remaining institutions represented a convenient sample of the 36 North Carolina community colleges that were not members of the Carolina Quality Consortium. Four hundred sixty-four surveys were mailed and 368 were returned. The overall percentage of survey return was 79.3. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for the analysis of data. An alpha level of.05 was used for all statistical tests. The major conclusions were: (1) there are different levels of TQM implementation among! the community colleges identified in this study, (2) there is a difference between the perception of TQM between administrators and faculty members, (3) the length of employment at the institution is a factor in the perception of the implementation of TQM, (4) age, gender, and ethnicity are not factors on the perceptions of the implementation of TQM, (5) the length of involvement in TQM, the service area, the size of the institution, and participation in the Carolina Quality Consortium are not factors on the overall quality ratings, (6) the positive outcomes perceived as having resulted from TQM/quality initiatives included improved communication, improved support systems, customer service, and increased involvement in planning and decision-making, and (7) the negative outcomes perceived as having resulted from TQM/quality were incongruence in philosophy and practice, too much time wasted, work overloads, and endless paperwork.

This research explores the roles of academic professionals in higher education, specific to how they engage in decision-making processes. Academic professionals provide important functions in higher education work but there is little in the literature about these actors and their contributions to leadership and governance. A literature review triangulated role theory, organization theory, and the shared-governance field of study to bring together actors within higher education and compare their involvement based on the shared-governance model in operation at different institutions. The researcher introduced the hypothesis that when registrars are not involved in curriculum management, there may be negative effects on student success. In the study, a survey was administered to registrars and faculty members representing nearly 200 institutions to ask about the role of the registrar in specific policies and curriculum practices. Results were measured using Fisher's Exact Test but also interpreted through multiple qualitative approaches, including inductive analysis. Outcomes were not significant in the quantitative test results, but respondents overwhelmingly indicated that the role of the registrar in shared governance affected student success. Themes were recorded to articulate the most common reasons respondents offered for how the registrar was involved in academic policy, curriculum management, and supporting student success. Results of the inductive analysis provided several themes that pointed to unique roles for the registrar, such as leading from behind and acting as a compliance authority, even when partners do not appreciate being held to compliance standards. Implications for practice focused on the qualitative outcomes of the survey. Suggestions for future research included further review of quantitative data outcomes and exploring ideas from inductive analysis around leading from behind and acting as a compliance authority.

The purpose of this study was to analyze critical elements for crisis planning at seven private four-year residential colleges and universities in Northern California. The researcher reviewed each campus's written crisis plans and interviewed campus officials in charge of leading their respective institution's crisis planning efforts. The data revealed that the threat of natural disasters was a common impetus for formal crisis planning. Institutions borrowed information from other campuses and public and private organizations to develop institutional crisis plans. Outside agencies both contributed to and gained from collaboration with these institutions, although all institutions sought a degree of self-sufficiency for food and water supplies. Emergency Operations Centers were designed to focus staffing and resources in a single, in some cases moveable, location in the event of a crisis. Campuses in this study invested considerable resources in systems of communication with students, faculty, and staff, including sirens, digital displays, and Connect-ED, but individual subscription remained a barrier to the smooth functioning of Connect-ED. Multi-layered communication systems enhance a campus's ability to communicate with all stakeholders. Philosophies varied on specificity versus flexibility as the framework for crisis planning. Campuses used threat assessment teams as proactive intervention to identify students who pose a threat to themselves or others. The State of California Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS), which became a template for the Federal National Incident Management System (NIMS), has become the unifying factor for crisis planning among these institutions. SEMS/NIMS, while not a mandate, emerged as a driving force for planning, because compliance with SEMS/NIMS is a requirement for receiving federal disaster emergency reimbursement for property damage. Practicing the plan, through tabletop and functional simulation exercises, allowed campus officials and civic safety agencies to develop a shared vocabulary and procedures. Crisis planning is a means to help a campus prepare for and respond to an incident in an effective manner, thus reducing harm to people and property damage. Although crisis planning cannot completely prevent incidents from occurring, appropriate and advanced planning and preparation can allow campus leaders to contain both the duration of and the damage caused by major crises.

Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2011.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Student Financial Support Schemes (SFSS) have become increasingly important in providing financial assistance for students pursuing higher education, in both developed and developing countries. SFSSs were first established in the 1950s. The years that followed saw an increase steady expansion of student loan programs, through the introduction of student loans in more countries and expansion in the number of loans available in relation to their size and new expanded approach. The trend was in response to higher education expansion, combined with increasing financial toughness and concern for equity, while at the same time there was a surge of interest in student loans in the late 1980s and 1990s, with new programs introduced in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom; several countries in eastern Europe, considering introducing student loans for the first time; and some developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America establishing or expanding student loan programs. The need for financial assistance is to enable students from low-income families to meet direct and indirect costs of higher education, and to ensure equality of opportunity, equity, and social justice. Recent arguments focused on whether student financial supports should be provided by governments, private agencies, employers, or institutions, and whether it should be in the form of scholarships, bursaries, grants either available to all students and or means-tested or fully repayable loans. Increasingly, debates also surrounds the question of how student loans should be administered in particular, eligibility and terms of repayment of loans, appropriate rates of interest, and mechanisms to target disadvantaged students while minimising default rates. Firstly, this study did a comparison between the SFSSs of the four different countries. Secondly, the best practices were identified and the Namibian case study was evaluated against the four countries. Lastly, some conclusions and recommendations were made that are aimed to improve the SFSS in Namibia.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Studente finansiële ondersteuningskemas in ontwikkelde en onder ontwikkelende lande lewer ‘n belangrike bydrae tot die finansiële ondersteuning van studente in höer onderwys. Studente finansiële skemas is tot stand gebring in die 1950s. In die daarop volgende dekades het daar ‘n enorme groei plaasgevind in die daarstelling van studente leningskemas. Nie net het die aantal leningskemas vermeerder nie, maar meer en meer lande het van die benadering gebruik gemaak. Gedurende die 1980s en 1990s was daar ‘n toename in studentegetalle in höer onderwys wat gevolglik gelei het tot ‘n toename in finansiële ondersteuning van studente. Die implementering van nuwe programme in Australië, Nieu-Seeland en die Verenigde Koninkryke het gelei tot ‘n toename in finansiële ondersteuningskemas van studente. Verskeie lande in Europa het oorweging geskend aan die implementering van finansiële ondersteuning van studente tewyl onder ontwikkelende lande in Asië, Afrika en Latyns Amerika oorweging geskenk het aan die uitbreiding van finansiële ondersteuningskemas aan benadeelde en opkomende studente. Finansiële ondersteuning van behoeftige studente is gedoen om die direkte en indirekte koste verbonde aan onderwys te dek, gelyke geleenthede tot onderwys te skep, toegang tot ondewys te verbreed en om sosiale geregtigheid te verseker. ‘n Debat het egter onstaan oor wie verantwoordelikheid moet aanvaar vir die toekenning van studiebeurse, lenings of skenkings aan studente. In die verband is daar spesifiek gevra oor watter bydrae instellings in die openbare en privaat sektore maak tot finansiële ondersteuning van studente. Verdere aangeleenthede wat tydens die debat geopper word is vrae soos, wie moet verantwoordelikheid aanvaar vir die bestuur van sodanige finansiële skemas, lenings, die rentekoers ter sprake by die terugbetaling van die lenings en watter metodes kan gebruik word in die geval van minder gegoede studente wat nie hul finansiële terugbetaling ooreenkomste kan na kom nie. Die studie is onderneem na aanleiding van ‘n vergelykende studie tussen vier verskillende lande se finansiële ondersteuningskemas. Daarna is ‘n beste praktyk ontwikkel waarteen die Namibiese finansiële ondersteuning skema geevalueer is. Sekere gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings is gemaak om die bestaande skema te verbeter.

The Ellison Executive Mentoring Inclusive Community Building (ICB) Model is a paradigm for initiating and implementing projects utilizing executives and professionals from a variety of fields and industries, university students, and pre-college students. The model emphasizes adherence to ethical values and promotes inclusiveness in community development. It is a hierarchical model in which actors in each succeeding level of operation serve as mentors to the next. Through a three-step process--content, process, and product--participants must be trained with this mentoring and apprenticeship paradigm in conflict resolution, and they receive sensitivitiy and diversity training, through an interactive and dramatic exposition. The content phase introduces participants to the model's philosophy, ethics, values and methods of operation. The process used to teach and reinforce its precepts is the mentoring and apprenticeship activities and projects in which the participants engage and whose end product demontrates their knowledge and understanding of the model's concepts. This study sought to ascertain from the participants' perspectives whether the model's mentoring approach is an effective means of fostering inclusiveness, based upon their own experiences in using it. The research utilized a qualitative approach and included data from field observations, individual and group interviews, and written accounts of participants' attitudes. Participants complete ICB projects utilizing the Ellison Model as a method of development and implementation. They generally perceive that the model is a viable tool for dealing with diversity issues whether at work, at school, or at home. The projects are also instructional in that whether participants are mentored or seve as apprentices, they gain useful skills and knowledge about their careers. Since the model is relatively new, there is ample room for research in a variety of areas including organizational studies to dertmine its effectiveness in combating problems related to various kinds of discrimination.

<p> Globalization has resulted in the need for not only competent leaders but also leaders who have high levels of cultural intelligence. Currently there is a paucity of empirical research demonstrating causes of cultural intelligence, especially in the educational setting (Haigh, 2002; Knight, 2007; Rivera, Jr., 2010). The purpose of the current investigation is to examine whether educational experience (class level) has an impact on cultural intelligence and whether there is a statistical interaction between levels of cultural exposure and educational experience (class level) on cultural intelligence scores. A causal-comparative quasi-experimental cross-sectional quantitative study was used for the current investigation to describe differences between selected independent variables of educational experience (class level) and cultural exposure (none, minimal, moderate, high) on the dependent variable of cultural intelligence scores as measured by the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) (Ang et al., 2007). Main and interaction effects of the independent variables on the dependent variable indicated that differences in educational experience (class level) and/or cultural exposure level have an impact on cultural intelligence scores. The data were collected from a population consisting of business administration students at a community college in the midwestern United States. A convenience sampling technique was used, drawing from the database of students enrolled in the business administration program. Because differences in cultural intelligence scores were found between class levels in college in the additional analyses, education might impact cultural intelligence positively, and strategies to foster more educational opportunities were recommended. Differences in cultural exposure levels resulted in differences in cultural intelligence scores in both the primary and the additional analysis and additional opportunities for cultural exposure expansion were recommended. The results of this study are useful because institutions of higher education prepare students for a global environment and advance the cultural knowledge of their students. The information from this study corroborates and adds to the literature on education and cultural intelligence and may suggest that institutions of higher learning should promote augmented cultural information/exposure.</p>

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reasons why recent high school graduates choose to attend a postsecondary proprietary school or a community college. Choice models based on the choices of prospective four-year college and university students provided the basis for the study. Three sets of variables--significant persons, relatively fixed institutional characteristics, and other institutional characteristics--were analyzed in order to determine students' choice of the two types of institutions.;The populations of this study were a group of 22 students in business and related curricula at the Virginia Beach Campus of Commonwealth College and a group of thirty randomly selected students in similar curricula at the Virginia Beach Campus of Tidewater Community College. The participants had to have graduated from high school during the spring of 1986 or 1987 and had to be enrolled in an associate degree program in business or related curricula. They did not have to be enrolled full-time. These participants responded to a survey addressing variables which caused them to choose a postsecondary proprietary institution or a community college. Interviews were conducted with five survey respondents from each of the populations.;Data were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance to investigate the differences between the two institutions. Statistically significant results were established at the.05 level of confidence. The results support the theory that recent high school graduates planning to matriculate at four-year colleges and universities choose their institutions for some of the same reasons that students planning to enroll in proprietary institutions or community colleges choose their schools. Differences were also identified.;Future research on student choice in higher education is needed in localities across the country. More information is essential regarding students who intend to enroll in local/regional proprietary schools and community colleges so that institutions may respond to the needs of prospective students.

Thesis (MPA (Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The provision of Public Administration education and training has been under the spotlight by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) since the early 1990’s and has received further prominence by the South African government in recent years. The 1994 democratic elections has brought about challenges and opportunities for educational and training institutions, among others, to reflect on their programme content, methodology and clientele and to gear themselves towards the needs of a “developmental state”. In response to these challenges and opportunities, South African HEIs of various types and sizes have attempted to introduce or reform Public Administration education and training programmes to both fit into the new political dispensation and help transform its public service. However, the emergence of these new education and training programmes have not been without difficulties. Notable efforts have been the emergence of schools of governments or public management at various tertiary institutions all of which purport to educate and train public officials for a democratic service. The euphoria that accompanied the institutional reforms might suggest that all is well, but the reality records that not all programmes have lived to their ideals. In the light of the above context, this study focuses on the School of Government (SOG), University of the Western Cape (UWC). The school has been selected due to its formal commitment to the provision of public service education and training for the post-apartheid civil service. The study focuses on the role of the school, its leadership, structure, content and processes of education and training programmes for the public service in the country. The study explores the broad global and national role of HEIs in general, and their particular role in the provision of Public Administration education and training. The study traces the global and national debates with respect to how public servants ought to be educated and trained, and illustrates the Public Administration education and training challenges faced in South Africa. The study also explores the legislative and policy framework governing HEIs and public sector education and training in South Africa. The evaluation of the UWC School of Government is based on the adaptation of the IASIA/UNDESA Standards of Excellence model to measure the role and performance of the case. The case study is measured through the application of institutional and programmatic criteria. In addition to the institutional criteria, the programme criteria focuses on the SOG’s programme development and review processes, its programme content, programme management and administration, and the performance of its programmes. The analysis of the case study is preceded by a historiography and background of the SOG and its education and training programmes. A critical analysis of the case study is undertaken in relation to the institutional and programmatic criteria mentioned above. Based on the findings of the study, the thesis concludes with recommendations relevant to the case study and provides more general recommendations applicable to institutions involved in the provision of Public Administration education and training.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die voorsiening van Publieke Administrasie onderrig en opleiding is onder die vegrootglas by hoër onderwys instellings (HOIs) sedert die vroeë 1990’s en het in onlangse jare verdere prominensie verkry by die Suid Afrikaanse regering. Die 1994 demokratiese verkiesing het uitdagings en geleenthede vir onderrig en opleiding instellings teweeg gebring om, onder andere, te besin oor programinhoud, metodologie en kliëntebasis en om hulself in rat te kry vir die behoeftes van die ontwikkelingstaat. In reaksie op hierdie uitdagings en geleenthede poog Suid Afrikaanse HOIs van verskillende tipes en groottes om Publieke Administrasie onderrig en opleidings programme in te stel of te hervorm sodat dit by die nuwe politieke bedeling inpas en help om die publieke diens te transformeer. Die ontwikkeling van nuwe onderrig en opleidings programme sou egter nie sonder sy eiesoortige probleme wees nie. Die ontstaan van Skole vir Openbare Bestuur (SOB) by verskeie tersiêre instellings was aan die orde van die dag en kort voor lank was voormelde instellings almal daarop uit om staatsamptenare vir ‘n demokratiese staatsdiens op te lei. Die euforie wat met hervorming gepaard gegaan het, sou die skyn wek dat alles goed en wel is, maar die realiteit toon dat nie alle programme aan die ideale wat gestel is voldoen het nie. In die lig van voormelde, fokus hierdie studie op die Skool vir Openbare Regering (SOR) aan die Universiteit van Wes-Kaap (UWK). Die SOR is gekies vanweë sy formele toewyding tot die onderrig en opleiding van studente vir die publieke sektor in post-Apartheid Suid-Afrika. Voorts sal die ondersoek fokus op die rol van die Skool, leierskap struktuur, onderriginhoud asook programprosesse vir onderrig en opleiding in die openbare sektor. Die studie ondersoek die globale en nasionale rol wat HOI’s in die algemeen speel en in besonder die voorsiening van onderrig en opleiding in Publieke Administrasie. Verder volg die studie die globale en nasionale diskoerse oor hoe staatsamptenare opgelei en onderrig behoort te word en illustreer, aan die hand hiervan, die uitdagings waarmee die onderrig en opleiding van Publieke Administrasie in Suid-Afrika te kampe het. Die studie ondersoek ook die wetlike en beleidsraamwerk waarbinne HOI’s en die publieke sektor in Suid-Afrika gereguleer word. Die SOR aan die UWK word dan geevalueer aan die hand van die IASIA/UNDESA Model van Standaarde van Uitsonderlikheid wat ook die rol en vordering in die gevallestudie meet. Meting van gevallestudie geskied met behulp van die toepassing van institutionele en programmatiese kriteria. Addisioneel tot die institutionele en programkriteria word daar ook gefokus op; programontwikkeling en hersieningsprosesse, programinhoud, programbestuur en administrasie en program vordering binne die SOR. Ontleding van die gevallestudie word voorafgegaan deur ‘n historiese oorsig en agtergrond van die SOR; en sy onderrig en opleidingsprogramme. In verhouding tot sy institutionele en programmatieka kriteria, soos vermeld, word die studie onderwerp aan kritiese ontleding en ondersoek. Gebaseer op die bevindings van die ondersoek, maak die tesis direk-verwante aanbevelings asook algemene aanbevelings gerig op instellings in die breë wat betrokke is by die onderrig en opleiding van Publieke Administrasie.

Since the late 1980s, a growing number of higher educational institutions have adopted the philosophy of Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI), commonly known in industry as Total Quality Management (TQM). Thousands of industrial organizations worldwide have practiced TQM for decades, and many have succeeded in improving quality, productivity and profitability with it. Nonetheless, reaping the benefits of this promising quality management approach presents a challenge to higher education since the academic culture differs dramatically from that of industry. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the optimal implementation characteristics of CQI in colleges and universities, and in particular, the most and least successful quality practices thus far implemented in academia. The underlying model used for testing the efficacy of TQM derives from six elements of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria, and consists of Leadership, Information and Analysis, Strategic Quality Planning, Faculty and Staff Involvement, Process Improvement, and Improvement Results. This dissertation comprised two stages. The first stage involved two field studies. The preliminary findings from these two studies were used to guide the development of a broader-based survey instrument. The second stage was a nationwide survey of colleges and universities that have been implementing CQI. The survey data were analyzed to examine the characteristics and effect of individual quality practices such as leadership, quality planning, faculty and staff involvement, teamwork, training, business and peer partnership, union support, reward and recognition, improvement measures, and quality system assessment, and to explore the relationship between success with CQI and these quality practices. Further, the most and least successful quality practices were identified by dividing the surveyed institutions that had implemented CQI into three groups: the Beginning Implementers, the Somewhat-experienced Implementers, and the Experienced Implementers. The findings of the study supported the hypothesis that the success of CQI in higher education depends on having a quality model for higher education that is well-developed and well-validated.

This research combines systems and critical theory to analyze the relationship of the athletic department and the institutional development office. The purpose of the study was to propose a model of coordinated athletic fund raising based upon a theoretical framework that explains athletic fund raising as an organizational function within the context of the interdependencies of a system. In the first phase of the research, a theory-based model of coordinated athletic fund raising is set forth. Several key characteristics of a coordinated approach are identified. In the second phase, results of telephone interviews with athletic fund raisers at Division I institutions are reported. Basic descriptive statistics and qualitative data analysis techniques are used to present a full and rich picture of how athletic fund raisers assess the relationship between the two offices. In the third phase of the research, a comparison is made between empirical findings and the model. Relationships between development offices and athletic departments vary greatly in nature and in scope. The majority of athletic fund raisers report that the relationship between the athletic department and development office is strained. Poor relationships may be deleterious to the athletic fund raising effort. A comparison of reported existing relationships to the model suggests that few existing relationships approach the level of coordination presented in the model. The theory-based model is determined to be useful in providing insights into the complex forces that affect athletic fund raising. Recommendations for moving relationships closer to the model focus on strategies that athletic fund raisers can employ to improve the relationship. Recommendations to athletic fund raisers include finding ways to produce and market critical fund raising resources to the development office; emphasizing negotiation as a strategy to improve exchanges; and working to establish better feedback mechanisms and more open lines of communication with the institutional development office.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of disciplinary background on the leadership styles of academic deans. The researcher conducted a nation-wide survey of academic deans from a wide range of disciplines. Specifically, the study sought to determine whether the disciplinary backgrounds of university deans are reflected in their self-reported actions, decision-making, and role perceptions. Subjects’ disciplines were categorized according to high-consensus and low-consensus fields as well as the pure/applied dichotomy. Four dimensions of organizational leadership (bureaucratic, collegial, political and symbolic) were utilized to define the subjects’ potential cognitive frames. The subjects’ use of cognitive frames were classified into predominantly single-, paired-, or multi-framed approaches. Descriptive statistics, mean comparisons, and logistic regression were utilized to analyze the behaviors and motivations of subjects in the study.

This paper consists of three independent, quantitative studies on three higher education policy issues in the U.S. : 1) Performance-based Financial Aid, 2) Community College Degree Attainment, and 3) Dual Enrollment. The first essay discusses how low-income students in free college programs respond to strict achievement standards exceeding the minimum requirement for federal financial aid. To address this question, I examined the impact of a new credit completion requirement for Indiana’s statewide free college program. This program is only available for low-income students and recently increased the number of credits required for maintaining eligibility from “taking” 24 credits per year to “earning” 30 credits per year in 2013. Using Indiana’s statewide administrative data on college students, I exploit the sudden change in the eligibility renewal rule to identify the causal effects of the requirement on their postsecondary outcomes. I found that the new rule increased the likelihood of completing a bachelor’s degree within four years by 2.5 percentage points. At two-year institutions, the policy had mixed impacts, increasing the chance of graduation within two years by 2.9 percentage points but also lowered the second-year persistence rate by 3.7 percentage points. Meanwhile, the number of of degree completers within five years remained unchanged in both the sectors, suggesting that strict achievement requirements only improve program efficiency but not overall productivity in terms of degree attainment. Lastly, the policy effects are largely driven by community college students and students whose high school GPA is at or below the median. This implies that schooling decisions that the policy is intended to influence are mostly concentrated among those students. In the second essay, I discuss how well machine learning (ML) techniques predict the chance of postsecondary credential attainment for students who started at community colleges. Among community college leaders and others interested in reforms to improve student success, there is growing interest in adopting ML techniques to predict credential completion. However, ML algorithms are often complex and are not readily accessible to practitioners for whom a simpler set of near-term measures may serve as sufficient predictors. This study compares the out-of-sample predictive power of early momentum metrics (EMMs)—13 near-term success measures suggested by the literature - with that of metrics from ML-based models that employ approximately 500 predictors for community college credential completion. Using transcript data from approximately 50,000 students at more than 30 community colleges in two states, I find that the EMMs that were modeled by logistic regression accurately predict completion for approximately 80% of students. This classification performance is comparable to that of the ML-based models. The EMMs even outperform the ML-based models in its ability to approximate the actual probability of degree completion. These findings suggest that EMMs are useful predictors for credential completion and that the marginal gain from using an ML-based model over EMMs is small for credential completion prediction when additional predictors do not have strong rationales to be included in an ML-based model, no matter how large the number of those predictors may be. The third essay focuses on dual enrollment programs at community colleges. The number of high students taking college courses has grown dramatically over the past two decades but little is known about their long-term educational outcomes. Using student-level data obtained from the National Student Clearinghouse, this study provides state-level descriptive analyses on the demographic characteristics of dual-enrolled students, as well as their educational attainment statuses in their early 20s. We tracked more than 200,000 high school students who first took a community college course in fall 2010 for six years, through summer 2016 (five years after high school). Eighty-eight percent of these students continued in college after high school, and most earned a certificate or degree or transferred from a two-year college to a four-year college within five years. What type of college former dual enrollment students attended after high school and how many completed a college credential varied greatly by state, and many states showed big disparities in credential completion rates between lower and higher income students.

In 2013, the U.S. Department of Education published revised guidelines for emergency response planning for colleges and universities in the United States. These guidelines reflect the collective work of numerous government intelligence, law enforcement, and preparedness agencies that have taken into account the past successes and failures of schools in response to natural disasters and man-made disasters such as cyber hacking and targeted violent incidents on campuses. With a collective enrollment of over 20 million students annually and valuable physical resources such as libraries, stadiums, and medical centers at institutions of higher education (IHE), an effort to identify the current safety personnel, practices, and services was conducted. The purpose of this research was to identify areas of IHE compliance with the government guidelines and to identify differences, if any, by school enrollment size and region of the country. A cross-sectional design was used to describe compliance with the government guidelines and examine the differences based on a random sample drawn from all accredited 4- year public colleges and universities (n=708) in the United States. A sample of 17% of all eligible institutions was selected (n=120), and a 70.8% response rate was obtained (n=85). Directors of public safety were interviewed by telephone and reported information regarding their school’s availability of mental health counseling, crime prevention programs, emergency communications plans, emergency operations plans, and personnel training. The major findings of this study revealed that only 64 (75%) schools offered disaster response presentations to new students and staff, while 9 (11%) reported that their written emergency operations plans were not available to their communities, and that only 53 (62.4%) offered presentations regarding cyber-security and safeguarding online information. This study also revealed that 40 (47%) of the respondents either did not have or did not know if their school had an emergency operations plan for dealing with database theft, and 55 (64.7%) either did not have or did not know if there was a plan in place to safeguard the private contact information used in their emergency communications systems. With an estimated 300,000+ college students annually studying abroad, only 44 (51.3%) respondents reported offering travel safety presentations to their communities. Few differences were identified based on enrollment or regional location. The implications are discussed within the context of increasing national trends of gun violence, armed civilians and officers on campuses, cyber hacking, and increased participation by students and researchers traveling abroad.

This study investigates the key requirements for the development of a Masters Degree Program in Educational Administration in private higher education institutions in Thailand. The key requirements are concerned with the essential indicators of educational quality management for an effective program. The quality indicators recognise current best practice for educational effectiveness and quality management. The population sample consists of academics holding executive or administrative positions in Masters Degree Programs in Educational Administrations or related fields in state and private universities in Thailand. The research involves a Proactive Form of Evaluation, in which a set of benchmarks appropriate to the practical needs of program designers in educational administration was developed. A mixed methods approach, using both quantitative and qualitative methodology, was applied. The quantitative research involved a three-round modified Delphi survey of nineteen Thai experts in the field of educational administration, all of whom were purposively selected. The Delphi survey identified four best practice and composite indicators and their variables: visionary leadership; learning centred education; organisation and personal learning; and valuing faculty, staff, and partners. A second survey, based on the findings of the initial Delphi survey, verified the key variables amongst the composite indicators. The qualitative research components involved a research review of best practice in the use of composite indicators and their variables, and semistructured interviews. The four composite indicators of best practice, and their associated fifty-eight variables concerned with input, process and output, were validated by triangulation of the results obtained from the initial Delphi survey, the second survey, and the outcomes of the series of semi-structured interviews held at the conclusion of the two surveys. Ultimately, the study produced an Educational Quality Management model for a Masters Degree Program in Educational Administration in private higher education institutions in Thailand.

The facilitator model for dual credit offers a way for student to earn directly transcripted credit to colleges and universities, overcoming many barriers faced by other dual credit models. Successful implementation of this model requires high degree of involvement from the cooperating institution. This IRB approved qualitative case study explored the needs of five teacher facilitators in both summer professional development and on-going support throughout the school year when implementing a facilitator model for dual credit with open-ended design coursework. Code-recode and axial coding techniques were applied to over 90 hours of transcribed data, artifacts, and observations from a seven month period to find emerging themes and offer recommendations for implementation.